Chapter 220

Chapter 220
Stella's POV

The gale howls across Black Ice Bay, whipping sheets of freezing rain into my face. Beside me, Freya braces her ice axe against the cliff, her storm blood mark flaring bright green as she channels power into the tempest. The twelve storm girls form a trembling circle behind us, their linked hands a web of glowing energy—blue, white, emerald—rippling across the ice.

Below, the Council fleet bucks like wounded beasts. The largest battleship pitches starboard, cannons dipping into the churning sea. I feel the edelweiss shards in my armor pulse faster, their green glow intensifying as my storm blood surges. The cub kicks wildly, as if cheering the storm's fury.

"Concentrate on the lead ship!" I shout, my voice lost in the wind.

The hurricane responds, funneling into a vortex above the fleet. Green lightning splits the sky, striking the lead ship's bridge. Metal explodes in a shower of sparks, and the vessel lists sharply, its propellers whining to a halt. Sailors in silver armor abandon ship, their screams swallowed by the storm.

"Another!" Freya yells, pointing to a cruiser trying to break formation. I twist my wrists, directing the tempest. Icy winds coil around the ship, tearing off its gun turrets one by one. The hull groans under the pressure, cracking like an egg. When it sinks, the sea swallows it in a geyser of foam.

A wave of saltwater crashes against the cliff, drenching my armor; the edelweiss shards sizzle, converting the moisture into pure energy that courses up my spine.

Two ships remain. One turns tail, its engines glowing red as it flees toward the open ocean. The other locks its cannons on our cliff. I see the barrels glow red-hot and shout, "Shields!"

A dome of swirling wind materializes around us, deflecting the cannonballs. Each impact sends shockwaves through my armor, but the edelweiss shards absorb the force, glowing brighter with each hit.

My wedding war suit seems to hum, its steel plates warming against my skin. I notice a crack forming in the breastplate's wolf insignia, but the edelweiss embedded there seals it shut, pulsing like a second heart.

"Finish them," I growl, feeling power I've never known surge from my core to my fingertips. The storm girls' marks blaze like suns, their combined energy a tidal wave.

I leap to the edge of the cliff, arms outstretched. My braids whip around my face, coated in ice; when I open my mouth to command the storm, my breath freezes mid-air into a crystalline roar.

The remaining ship doesn't stand a chance. A tornado of ice and lightning descends, crushing its hull like paper. As it sinks, the last crew member fires a desperate rocket, but my storm swats it aside, sending it careening into the fortress walls.

The explosion creates a new breach, exposing a network of hallways within.

Silence falls over the bay, broken only by the storm's dying howl and the cheers of our warriors. I look down at my hands, still crackling with green energy. The edelweiss shards in my armor shine so brightly they cast shadows on the ice. A few shards have fallen out, but the holes they leave throb with raw power, as if my body itself is now a conduit.

Then, from the camp, a horn sounds—long, triumphant. I turn to see Kai on the glacial ridge, his sword raised high. Behind him, thousands of warriors surge forward, their war cries echoing across the bay. The fortress, now vulnerable without its fleet.

"Now, Kai," I whisper, feeling the cub kick again, as if urging the assault. "Now we take back our land."

The first wave of wolves—warriors shifted to their animal form—tear across the ice, their yellow eyes fixed on the fortress. Kai leads the human charge, his armor gleaming in the storm's aftermath. I watch him go, my heart pounding in time with the advancing army.

Ataq's battle cry rings out from the west flank, while Bjorn's berserkers smash into the north wall with warhammers, their shouts vibrating the ice.

Freya claps my shoulder, her smile wild. "We did it, Stella. The fleet is gone."

I nod, but my gaze stays on Kai. He reaches the fortress walls, his sword slashing through a cluster of Silver Rot soldiers. Our forces pour through the breach, their howls blending with the last echoes of the storm. A Silver Rot soldier aims a rifle at Kai's back; I flick my wrist, and a shard of ice pierces the soldier's visor, dropping him mid-shot.

The edelweiss in my armor dims slightly, but the storm blood in my veins still sings. I place a hand on my belly, feeling the cub's steady thump. "See, little one?" I murmur.

"We're fighting for your future." The baby's kick is so strong it makes me gasp.

As Kai's forces disappear into the fortress, I turn to the storm girls. "Let's join them. The battle isn't over yet."

We race down the cliff, our boots thundering on the ice. The hurricane may have passed, but the storm within us rages on—powered by hope, by love, by the promise of a world free from the Council's shadow. Halfway down, I feel a familiar chill in the air; looking up, I see a figure standing on the fortress's highest tower, cloak billowing in the wind.

Damon.

His silver armor glints in the fading storm light, and even from here, I can see the smirk on his face. He raises a hand, and a volley of missiles launches from the fortress's hidden turrets, aimed straight at our advancing forces.

"Kai, look out!" I scream, but my voice is drowned by the explosions.

I surge forward, storm blood blazing. The edelweiss shards in my armor that remained flare to life, and I raise both hands, summoning a wall of wind to block the missiles. They detonate mid-air, painting the sky in bursts of red and gold.

Kai turns, sees Damon, and roars a challenge. He leads a squad toward the tower, but Silver Rot soldiers pour from every crevice, their numbers overwhelming. I watch as a soldier plunges a blade into Kai's side; he staggers, but doesn't fall, swinging his sword with even more ferocity.

"Freya, with me!" I shout, sprinting toward the fortress. "The rest of you, secure the perimeter!"

We leap over a trench filled with frozen bodies, our armor clattering against the ice. Freya tosses me a grenade launcher she found on a fallen warrior; I catch it, feeling the storm blood in my veins merge with the weapon, turning its projectiles green.

Damon laughs from the tower, a sound that cuts through the battle noise. "You think you've won, little Luna? The real fight is just beginning."

He raises a device in his hand, and the fortress walls begin to glow with a familiar silver light. The same light that infected my veins, that threatened to consume my child.

"NO!" I yell, firing the launcher. The green projectile hits the tower, but Damon vanishes in a puff of smoke, leaving only his mocking laughter behind.

Kai reaches me, blood streaming from his side. "Stella—"

"I'm here." I press my palm to his wound, channeling what's left of the edelweiss energy.

The fortress looms before us, its interior unknown. But we stand together, our forces at our backs.

"For the cub," Kai says, gripping my hand.

"For all of us," I reply, and together, we lead the charge into the heart of the Council's stronghold. The battle may have just begun, but with the fleet destroyed and our power united, I know we will not stop until this tyranny is buried beneath the ice!